Tower Climber (A LitRPG Adventure, Book 1) by Jakob Tanner (free children's online books TXT) 📕

“Did you have a nice weekend?” asked Max.

“I had amazing weekend plans,” she said. “I was going to go shopping, I was going to get a chocolate strawberry crepe downtown, but instead my part-time job ate up my whole weekend and now I’m back at school again. It’s unfair!”

“I’m actually quite excited for a new week of classes,” said Max.

Casey’s eyes drooped, unimpressed with him.

“Hurray for you ,” she said, sarcastically.

Max looked around the courtyard to see if the instructor had arrived. There was still five minutes before classes started but you’d think the teacher would have arrived early.

Someone knocked into Max’s shoulder.

Max swerved and it was Cyrus and his goons arriving to class. They didn’t even say anything to Max after the altercation, simply walking into a far corner of the academy courtyard.

“Ignore them,” said Casey. “They’re morons and probably still pissed off that we passed last week’s test. Don’t give them a second thought.”

Max nodded to Casey. She was right and he appreciated her telling him so.

Sybil Westley sneered at them as she walked by, but didn’t give them much trouble that morning.

The instructor eventually arrived. He sighed, then took one last drag of his cigarette, and then threw it on the ground and stubbed it out with his boot.

“He isn’t really a great role model, is he?” said Casey, crossing her arms.

The instructor gestured for everyone to be quiet.

“Today I’m announcing something very exciting,” he said. “Something I’m sure all of you have been waiting for. The date for this years midterms!”

An audible groan came from the entire crowd. Casey looked particularly displeased.

“Ugh, midterms,” she said. “But it’s only week two of classes.”

Max kept his cool. He understood that this academy was all about pushing students to their limits and seeing if they could triumph. The midterms were just another stepping stone towards his goals to becoming a tower climber. He wasn’t going to stand there and groan while important information was being disseminated.

The instructor continued.

“The mid terms will be held on December 3rd. You now have the rest of October and November to train and prepare for the test. It should be noted that the academy’s trials will only get more difficult after the midterms, so failing them will result in a failure for the year. There’s no chance to catch up after them. Oh—and the winter ball will be held a few days after the midterms as well. Don’t forget that and, most importantly, good luck.”

With that, the instructor headed back into the academy building and the crowd of students erupted into a deluge of complaints.

“Are they ever actually going to teach us anything? Or is it all tests, all the time!?”

Max turned to Casey and her whole body was slumped over.

“Mondays are the worst.”

36

Max stood in the academy courtyard, tapping his foot and thinking to himself.

None of the students had left yet. They continued to moan about the midterms and lack of guidance from the academy in general.

Max went over what the instructor had told them. The midterms was an important test in two months time. They had now until then to train.

Max didn’t mind the idea of independent study, but there was just one problem. They weren’t allowed to go to any tower floors higher than The Endless Forest.

That was a problem. One of the best parts of Max’s trait was that he had the power to defeat monsters much higher ranked than him. He should be able to gain stats and power much more quickly than others; but he wouldn’t be able to do so on floor-2 where all the monsters were so low ranked.

All of the tower-zone’s rules were preventing him from being able to improve quickly.

“Any ideas of how you’re going to study for the mid terms?” asked Casey.

Max shook his head. “I’m trying to figure that out now.”

“Well, I’m going to go hit the gym, treat myself to a crêpe, and try and think of some ideas on my own,” she said. “So I’ll catch you later?”

Max smiled. “Sure, sounds great!”

She turned to leave and it looked as if she was waiting for something to happen.

“You know—with how independent the next few weeks of training are—we might not necessarily be bumping into each other as frequently,” Casey said.

“That’s true,” said Max. “I can’t wait to see how your training pays off.”

“Yeah but maybe we’ll discover something that might help the both of us, so wouldn’t it be a good idea to stay in contact somehow...?”

“Oh,” said Max. “We should exchange mobile numbers. I have a new one as well. I’m glad I thought of this!”

Casey threw a large punch into his shoulder. “I thought of it, you moron! It’s just more normal for a boy to ask for a girl’s number, not the other way around! I don’t know how they do things in the outer-rim, but you can be pretty dim, Max!”

“Uhh...” Max was at a loss for words.

He handed her his phone and she inputted her number while still red in the face. She then sent a text to herself from his phone.

“There,” she said. “Now I’m going to go do some laps at the pool, enjoy my crêpe, and imagine that you had simply asked for my number straightaway.”

“Okay,” said Max. “Bye.”

Casey strutted off.

Max shrugged to himself. He really was no expert when it came to girls, but he was happy he now had Casey’s number. She was the first friend his age he had made here in the tower-zone.

Max put his phone back in his pocket and looked around the courtyard. The majority of students were still there.

He still needed to figure out how to train as efficiently as possible.

“It’s total bull crap,” said a voice nearby. “We’re only allowed to go one floor up. The energy from those copper monster cores barely improves my mana affinity at all.”

Max kept his distance, but listened closely to the group of students. It was a group of three guys.

“I heard there’s a place where we